According to the Haliburton Highlands Chamber of Commerce (HHCC), TikTok isn’t just a social media platform for dances and trends, it’s an invaluable marketing tool for Highlands businesses.

Kirstley Dams, who joined the chamber in 2022 as an administrative assistant, has been implementing a fresh social media strategy for the chamber that hinges on video content and “humanizing” Highlands entrepreneurs.

Dams has profiled six chamber businesses so far, including The Haliburton Forest, Wind in the Willows Spa and Boutique and SIRCH Bistro & Bakery.

For each, she records, edits and posts videos to Instagram and TikTok – the fastest growing social network in the world.

She said incorporating new social media tactics, such as short, casual videos, can be a vital way for Haliburton businesses to get their names out to millions of people on the app from Toronto, or around Ontario, who may be going north.

“That’s a huge customer base you might not be hitting because they don’t know the traditional businesses up here,” she said.

The videos are often viewed by different people than posts on Facebook, and can reach a much larger crowd. Around one billion people use TikTok each month, and its algorithm often means users discover new content quickly.

For example, after posting a video about SIRCH Bistro, Dams received feedback from people who didn’t know the organization had a storefront.

“In the past two years, the term ‘local’ has changed up here. Just because all the people who have grown up here know your business, people new to the area might not.”

Dams said humanizing companies makes them appear relatable. In a tight-knit community such as Haliburton County, “there’d be a huge difference between showing ‘these are some projects we did,’ versus ‘here’s who we are’. People want to see the people they’re calling or emailing,” she said.

Dams acknowledged it can be intimidating for businesses to get started.

“You hear people throwing around the words algorithm, engagement, insights. If you don’t have experience in social media, that can be really overwhelming.”

She’s conducted one-on-one consultations with a few chamber businesses so far to unravel top tips and chat about strategies. Even for companies that might assume their customers aren’t on social media, Dams said growing apps such as TikTok can spread the news to an expanding population in the Highlands.

“Even if you’re a service-based business that doesn’t have a product, there’s a really good opportunity to showcase the people, and the brand,” she said.

A small group of residents on Livingstone Lake feel as though they’re fighting for their future after being denied a permit by the province to construct a new private boat launch they would use to access their waterfront properties.

Karen Hammond has been living full-time in her cottage on the south side of the lake since 2006, but has owned the property for almost 30 years. Being water-access only, she has to take a boat whenever she leaves home for groceries, a medical appointment or to see friends.

For years she and neighbours James Schwartz, Amy McCarten and Mark Rooke have used a launch located on private property along Laurel Road to access their homes. Last year, the property owner issued them with notices stating he would like to cease their informal agreement. The owner declined to comment when contacted by The Highlander.

The quartet came together in the spring to file an application with Algonquin Highlands to create a new boat launch approximately 30 metres away from the existing launch. The application was supported by the township, which granted shoreline access and a proposal to install a floating dock.

Hammond said they also needed to secure an approval from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry to install a driveway to the dock over Crown land. That application was rejected on July 7. Jason Lorbetskie, district supervisor with MNRF, told The Highlander the application was “not consistent with ministry regulations, policies and procedures”.

He noted this wasn’t the first time the ministry had rejected a proposal to create a new access point on Livingstone Lake.

The rejection has left the group scrambling, in particular Hammond as a permanent resident on the lake. Schwartz and McCarten say they have secured temporary solutions – launching from neighbouring properties that have road access, while Hammond has continued to use the private launch she’s always used.

None of those is a permanent solution, though. An appeal has been lodged with the MNRF.

Hammond said this is an issue that dates back decades, and that the fault lies with the province which, after selling the land shortly after the Second World War, failed to establish a private access point.

“We’re saying to them that they made the mistake in the beginning, now allow us to fix it,” Hammond said.

Lorbetskie has suggested the group use what he called “a public access point on Livingstone Lake maintained by the municipality” to get to their properties. According to Algonquin Highlands mayor Carol Moffatt, no such site exists.

“Algonquin Highlands manages 26 access points, but does not have one on Livingstone Lake,” she wrote in an email. “The access point ministry staff are referring to is actually an Algonquin Park access point for Dividing Lake. As such, our support of [the group’s] appeal is steadfast.”

Hammond said that site is a small launch on the other side of the lake, which people use to take out their canoes and kayaks.

“There’s no way we could use that, it’s far too small a site and there’s no dock there,” Hammond said. “We wouldn’t get approval to put one in, and even if we did the environmental impacts would be tremendous. This lake is fragile, having boats go back and forth from one end to the other, disturbing the wildlife and all of the property owners just isn’t a viable solution. We’re actually surprised the ministry, the ones who are supposed to be protecting the health of lakes, would suggest this.

“Everyone – the township, our neighbours – all seem to be in agreement that the site we’ve selected is the best fit that would have the least impact on the lake. We just need the ministry to get onboard,” she added.

Rooke told The Highlander he’s been using that launch area for several weeks and has had no issues getting his small pontoon boat in and out. He believes the site could work as a regular launch, providing the group received approval to install a dock.

Lorbetskie said the group’s appeal would be forwarded to the regional director for a final determination. There is no timeline for a final decision.

Hammond said the only thing she and her neighbours can do now is hope that the verdict is a positive one.

“I don’t know what we would do if we’re turned down again. We couldn’t sell, because nobody would buy without access,” Hammond said. “We would be stuck with properties that are worth nothing. I would be stuck without a home.”

While Terry Moore is encouraged by recent Algonquin Highlands and Highlands East council decisions to approve, in principle, green burials, he said Haliburton County isn’t close to seeing the practice.

On July 21, Algonquin Highlands council approved a change to its cemetery bylaw, opening the door for green burials at St. Stephen’s Cemetery. Highlands East has been sitting on a draft bylaw for months, that would allow the practice at its Deer Lake Cemetery.

“We’re relieved and we’re thankful, but we’re not cheering from the rooftops yet,” said Moore who, with wife, Shirley, formed the Haliburton Highlands Green Burial Society in 2019. “There’s still a long way to go… there’s no immediate plan of implementation that we can point to. It’s all going to depend upon a number of other considerations we have to work through first,” Moore said.

In Algonquin Highlands, that difficulty surrounds a vacancy in the municipality’s operations department. Lyell Bergstrome had been handling the issue until his departure in December. Moore said nobody has picked up the baton.

In Highlands East, council is still debating several things, including whether to incorporate winter burials – something Moore has long been calling for.

Currently, the four townships in Haliburton County do not permit burials between November and May.

Highlands East is considering a change, though Moore said they’re having trouble figuring out how to integrate winter burials into their operations.

The green burial society is forming a working group with the two townships to come up with ideas. Moore said things are on pause while Algonquin Highlands hires a new operations manager.

Moore said he’s also hoping to revisit the issue with Dysart et al and Minden Hills in the near future. Prior to the pandemic, there were talks to establish a green burial-specific cemetery in Minden Hills that would allow for winter burials, but Moore said there’s been no movement for several years.

He said establishing a green burial section at Dysart’s Evergreen Cemetery would be difficult since the site is close to capacity. Moore said he has been in touch with CAO Tamara Wilbee to re-establish a green burial working group, under the township’s direction, to come up with a long-term plan.

“We’d like to see some options for green and winter burial available in every township,” Moore said.

Heading into the fall, Moore said his group was focusing on raising money to assist the townships in developing green burial sites and “making them as attractive as they could possibly be”.

He’s also scheduled discussions with several groups to educate them about the benefits of green burials.

Moore added around 80 per cent of people opt to be cremated, resulting in millions of tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year.

“Not many people think about the environmental impacts of end-of-life dispositions… Green burial is kind of like leaving an environmental legacy after death,” Moore said. “Green burial is something that is greener, it doesn’t have a zero-carbon footprint, but is much more environmentallyfriendly than conventional burial or cremation.”